Print Topic - Archive

Dr. D. wrote that his family always drank their wine 1/2 hour before eating and any other liquid 1/2 hour AFTER their meals.

When do we down our supplements? Trying to follow his advise but don't want to wait 1/2 hour after I eat. So I've been swallowing right before I eat with as little water as possible.

Any suggestions?

Posted by: yaeli, Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 2:14pm; Reply: 1

The food we eat is always moist enough to easily swallow with it supplements that go with meals.Most of my supplements are capsulated. Some of them are just tasty, so my habit is to open the caps into the food and have the supps like that. The only tablet I take is selenium, and this one is sometimes uneasy to swallow.

1/2 an hour after the meal is still considered "with meal", since most foods stay in the stomach longer (a banana stays a shorter time, and some fish stay around 1/2 an hour - so I read).

Posted by: Enobattar, Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 2:36pm; Reply: 2

Thanks, Yaeli. That is helpful.

Posted by: yaeli, Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 8:52pm; Reply: 3

:) 8) :K)

Posted by: Victoria, Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 9:31pm; Reply: 4

I can swallow 6 capsules at a time with a mouthful of water, so I take the (with food) supplements right before a meal. But that's not the same as sipping a big glass of water all through the meal.

Posted by: Lin, Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 10:23pm; Reply: 5

interesting thread. More recently I was told by Holistic and Acupuncture Doctors to take after meals to allow your body the opportunity to get the nutrition from the food first. Whether it really works this way I don't know but seemed like a good idea. Certain vitamins are supposed to work best at night, such as calcium and magnesium, help people sleep better.Lin

More recently I was told by Holistic and Acupuncture Doctors to take after meals to allow your body the opportunity to get the nutrition from the food first. Whether it really works this way I don't know but seemed like a good idea.

This actually makes a lot of sense. :)

Posted by: Amazone I., Thursday, May 3, 2012, 5:28am; Reply: 7

I always take aminoacids onto the empty stomach and all the rest after eating ;) ;D :D

Posted by: san j, Friday, May 4, 2012, 8:43pm; Reply: 8

Usually the manufacturer will tell the consumer on the label whether or not it matters vis-à-vis food. The criteria that are used are generally/often with respect to the water-solubility or fat-solubility of the nutrient.

Certain supplements should be taken, also, with certain other supplements or foods for enhanced bioavailability. Certain others should be taken entirely alone so that their desired effects on the digestive system are not diverted by foodstuffs (including other pills) being digested.

Certain nutrients are components of "complex" supplements. If you are taking a Complex AND an additional component of that complex, it's often best to take the complex first and, later, compound it with the desired sub-components.

Certain supplements have energy or sedative or diuretic effects. Obviously, the time of day does matter when considering when to take these.

Posted by: Enobattar, Sunday, May 6, 2012, 1:07pm; Reply: 9

All of these comments have been helpful and have brought my thinking to this conclusion. For me, since all I take are 'whole-food supplements', I believe I will follow Victoria's advise. There is one exception, though, and that is my hydrochloric acid pill I will take 1/2 hour before eating. ;)